The Nexus of Gender, Age and Ability

Since its original conception in the 1940’s autism has been dominated by a focus on males. Indeed, epidemiological data has consistently highlighted a greater prevalence among males than females, with diagnosis four times more common in males [6–8].

This has led to the notion that Autism is a male disorder, popularised in the “extreme male brain” hypothesis of autism underpinned by the systemiser-empathizer dichotomy [9]. However, since the 1980s, the gender bias in autism has been steadily gaining traction [10,11]. Indeed, Attwood [12] contends that “life on the autism spectrum is not easy for girls and women”, who often adjust to the classic profile of autism characteristics differently to males, resulting in a disparate presentation of the condition.